New Indonesian Style

by Ayşe Eroğlu

Editor’s
Note:
The author wishes to inform us that her text, while composed
and slightly adjusted to our prose style, is based on a conversation
with a sister resembling Ummu Maryam and makes use of other accounts
of real-life experiences.

Bismillah,
Ummu,
you have told me last time that it is less important for you to
discuss what we are wearing as muslimah, that it’s a topic of
little importance compared to those which have most to do with Allah.
But you left for salah and did not log in again while I was around,
so I have to send you this long message. You will understand better
if you read it entirely.

Islam
involves our entire life and way of being, the things we do. And, as
you should have been aware, many consider that what a muslimah wears
is an important decision. It is to please Allah and it is to
represent that we are muslimah, we know who we are. This niqab is not
just a piece of cloth, it means what we are, Subhan'Allah.

Now
you understand why it is so important for me and other sisters to
draw attention to the importance of proper hijab, of wearing the
niqab. We were both born in countries with little respect for our
traditions, we are different only in how far our need for modesty
goes... or how far our husbands go to preserve our modesty!

We
(my husband and I) can hardly tell you how grateful we are to Allah
for having the opportunity to discuss with other sisters from around
the world and see how each of them – often in conditions different
from ours – observes modesty. Many sisters do not think much about
the ways of modesty that are current in their regions, they take for
granted what is accepted – and that is why I understand your
reaction when I mentioned that burqa is the ideal wear for us. It is
our conclusion after reading about the history of veils throughout
Islam (in which the burqa was anticipated by the Persian ru-band and
chador outfit) and after talking to various sisters who are not from
Afghanistan or Pakistan, but have adopted the burqa, Masha’Allah!

In
Malaysia and Indonesia, as you may have seen, there are many sisters
who wear the half niqab in bright, varied colors. But it seems that,
under the influence of Saudi style, black and dark colors are
becoming popular among the sisters of the last few generations.
Masha’Allah – I also consider black to be the best solution, but
not many sisters realize that black is not the only encouraged color
and that, for many centuries, it simply was the easiest to use in
those harsh conditions.

Alhamdulillah
I had the chance to have on-line conversations with some of these
modest young sisters, some younger than me! And here comes the part
you may find strange, ukhti – some (surprisingly many!) of them
have in common a cloth which covers every inch of their skin, a cloth
which conceals their face to the world, but through which they can
still see (without being seen), a strange cloth with the equally
strange name “zentai”!...

Who
are these sisters who literally look like pearls of Islam? I have
tried to research as much as I can this topic, ukhti, although it is
very hard to ask in these matters sisters I don’t know very well.
Turns out most of them had their husbands working in Japan (the land
of everything that is strange, huhuhu) or Singapore (with an
apparently very active zentai community), where some still live. It
was their husbands’ decision to wear the zentai, they say.

That
is how we found out about this enveloping suit of Japanese origin –
used for so many clearly not Islamic, even devilish purposes - that,
in the hands of some muslimah, turned out to be an unlikely
instrument in attaining modesty! As we have been quietly trying for
many years to find more ways in which I could observe modesty –
with the help of sisters such as yourself, Alhamdulillah –, zentai
turned out to be a solution for me too, as I find it a lot more
practical and safe than what I used to wear over my awrah.

The
gloves so many sisters like us wear are tight – and so are the
stockings that are so common today, even combined with proper loose
pants. They should be opaque, although just one layer often reveals a
trace of skin in the daylight. But even I was just as amazed as you
probably are (reading this now) – sisters wearing tight full-body
suits under their garments! Despite the appearance, they managed to
get used to it relatively soon, in spite of the heat. (Maybe it
wouldn’t be suitable in all environments.)

A
problem I know all too well is when niqab detaches itself (I use
knot, not velcro) or gloves not staying on properly, not long enough…
Very practical then to wear a one-piece cloth that solves these
problems. A kind of “second skin” – which is why some prefer to
stay in it for as long as possible and only pull up the niqab and
drop the outer gloves for salah. There are disagreements in this
matter: while zentai is part of the purdah, it doesn’t seem
recommendable for shalat. Yet awrah is to be protected during the
shalat as well, if all the parts of the body are considered awrah. If
observing purdah, zentai may be acceptable.

My
husband says that he always found it logical for a niqabi to cover
her eyes, as she also covers her hands and feet. Masha’Allah –
purdah is tradition and being “faceless” like this (in the sense
that gloves don’t reveal the identity of the hands) is a form of
following it. I have tried in other ways to achieve this kind of
modesty, among them being the facescarf (maybe a bit more convenient
for other sisters). We have chosen now the zentai, thanks to these
Indo, Malay, Singaporean sisters…This is what I wanted to tell you
and you may not reveal publicly, ukhti, as this kind of wear is
considered by some too “strict”. There are so many definitions of
“modesty”…

Masha’Allah
– it is in these photos (some of which I’ve sent you attached
here) that I’ve come to understand better what it means to be
“pearl of Islam”! Ukhti, this is just a proposal – wearing such
an attire for Allah is mustahabb, of course. As you have told me of
your intention to observe purdah, I hope this proved helpful to you
and your husband. Allahu akbar!